Difference between Shin Megami Tensei and Persona

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The SMT name was added outside of Japan, supposedly to increase sales through brand recognition. Starting with P4G, the Persona series has eclipsed the actual SMT series in terms of popularity, so it dropped the title.

In Japan, none of the Persona games has the SMT name. Persona 1 had "Megami Ibunroku," a spinoff label that Devil Survivor 1 also got.

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The "Megami Tensei" franchise consists of Shin Megami Tensei games, as well as Persona games. However, the Persona series itself is an offshoot of an SNES MegaTen game called Shin Megami Tensei if..., which itself is an offshoot of the Shin Megami Tensei series, despite it being a game within the same vein as the Shin Megami Tensei series.

Shin Megami Tensei games are known to have distinctive tropes that are generally not utilized in Persona games, these tropes include:- Opposing factions with a set of ideologies. (Law vs. Chaos)- Demons that are central to the plot.- The theme of enlightenment.- The "friends become enemies" syndrome.- Complex dungeons with puzzle solving mechanics.- Demon negotiation.- Demon party members.- Post-apocalyptic settings.

Shin Megami Tensei and Persona are both Megami Tensei series, but they are not connected to each other in terms of plot and direction. In Japan, "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4" is simply labeled as just "Persona 4." With the success of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne in America, AtlusUSA decided to use the Shin Megami Tensei name as a "title stamp" for subsequent Megami Tensei games, mainly for marketing purposes, regardless of whether or not they were connected to the main series.